Enjoy it for what it is!

Rating: 9/10 (5 November 2002)

Okay, I enjoyed this movie, in spite of the obvious flaws. I know a lot of people have commented that DV is not good enough for cinema, but I thought it gave the film a nicely different look, both ghostly and gritty. It also allowed the shoot to take place in London very early in the morning without massive lighting rigs messing up the shot, or meaning the traffic had to be stopped for too many hours as DV is much more light sensitive (apparently). Oh and of course it's cheap!! The plot although clichéd and cheesy did have enough to say to keep us interested, and was clever enough to use the roller coaster effect (slow, quiet section followed by fast moving jumpy section). However for all of those who are accusing this film of being just like Night Of The Living Dead or Evil Dead or whatever else has been mentioned, try watching the old British SF classic Day of The Triffids. There are parts that made me think that this was almost a remake! It also put me in mind of I Am Legend (the novel on which The Omega Man is based), and the third section, in the mansion just felt like it was ripped out of a very poor Doctor Who ep! Contrary to others I think much of the characterisation is done very well. People do stupid, thoughtless, selfish things in extreme circumstances. People begin to value different things, in the case of Jim a Cheese Burger became more important than his own safety, in the case of the soldiers the procreation urge overcame their sense of decency. I thought that worked. The 'effects' are few and far between, and really probably unnecessary. The infected were just fine (in the best tradition of cheap zombie movies, a few rags, some dirt and a bit of fake blood. Works every time) Some of the acting was fairly bad, but sometimes on a low budget it must be difficult to get good 'child' actors (you know who I am talking about if you've seen the film). At the end of the day if you go to this movie expecting a US style horror / action movie you will be VERY disappointed, but if you go in expecting an intelligent, but ultimately flawed British sci fi, that's pretty much what you will get.